Background: Development of improved therapeutics against tuberculosis (TB) is hindered by an inadequate understanding of the relationship between disease severity and genetic diversity of its causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We previously isolated a hypervirulent M. tuberculosis strain H112 from an HIV-negative patient with an aggressive disease progression from pulmonary TB to tube...

Studies of the effect of government spending on unemployment are potentially confounded by reverse causality. To address the endogeneity problem, we exploit variation in a porkbarrel road-building program, and find that higher government expenditure on road-building substantially reduces local unemployment. JEL Codes: E24, E62, H30, H54,

A macro model is developed incorporating the productive e®ects of public expenditure, but also allowing for congestion. The Pigouvian tax rate to correct for the distortion caused by congestion is found and the optimal level of public expenditure is characterized. JEL Classi ̄cation Numbers: E62, H54 Corresponding author: John Bennett, Department of Economics and Finance, Brunel university, Uxbr...

In many situations the individuals who can generate some output must enter a contest for appropriating this output. This paper analyses the investment incentives of such agents and the role of incumbency advantages in the contest. Depending on the advantages, an increase in the productivity of the investment can decrease or increase the amount of investment. The results are applied to autocrats...

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MNSOD) is one of the major scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria with pivotal regulatory role in ischemic disorders, inflammation and cancer. Here we report oxidative modification of MNSOD in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by the shotgun method using data-dependent liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). While 5816 and 5...

Data for further development of the flagellar antigen genetics of the species Escherichia coli are reported. Two new flagellin genes named fllA and flmA were found in E. coli 781-55, E2987-73, and E223-69, the test strains for E. coli flagellar antigens H44, H55, and H54, respectively (collection of the International Escherichia and Klebsiella Centre of the World Health Organization, Copenhagen...

We estimate the development effects of electrification across Brazil over the period 1960–2000. We simulate a time series of hypothetical electricity grids for Brazil for the period 1960–2000 that show how the grid would have evolved had infrastructure investments been made based solely on geography-based cost considerations. Using the model as an instrument, we document large positive effects ...

The issue of whether government capital is productive has received a great deal of attention recently, yet empirical analyses of public capital productivity have generally been limited to the official capital stock estimates available in a small sample of countries. Alternatively, many researchers have investigated the output effects of public investment—recognizing that investment may be a poo...

This paper explores whether the post-1980 decline in infrastructure investment in developing countries is a source of growing disparities in world per capita GDP. I start by reviewing the literature on the infrastructure-productivity link, arguing that a balanced reading of previous studies points to a significant effect of infrastructure provision on productivity. I then empirically study whet...

When fixed, sunk investment costs are high, firms may not have sufficient incentive to enter the market unless future entry is constrained. In this case, the government faces a dilemma between a full commitment and noncommitment of restricted future entry. A way out is to consider a commitment conditional on the realization of the uncertain parameters, such as the trigger-point mechanism (TPM) ...